Favorites

I'm not sure why I even care about this - I only make a couple cakes a year and have only been on this site for a few weeks - but I see some of the cakes that have a lot of favorites are just average at best. Others that obviously took a lot of skill and effort will have none. Can it be that arbitrary or is it that some people are known on the site and considered favorites themselves and get more selected? Just curious as it seems to be fairly skewed from a newcomer's perspective.

I only have about 20 cakes in my favorites. I only keep cakes as favorites so I can reference them for a future project or for a particular inspiration.

Sometimes I keep a cake as a favorite because of the design. Sometimes I keep a cake as a favorite because of a particular technique used. Sometimes I keep it because I like the color scheme used.

But I, personally, have never kept a cake pic as a favorite because of the popularity of, or my familiarity with, the decorator. I hope that others do not do this, as it builds a false sense of confidence in the decorator.

It maybe a cake idea that I love, and think maybe some day I'll do something like that.

It maybe a color combination that I like, or there maybe a border, flower or some other detail that I liked.

It could be that I've got a certain cake to do and I favorite pictures in that theme that I can pull ideas from.

In my favorites there are some completely detailed, totally awesome work, some simple, but cool designs and them some that would be just considered average because there was something above average about them.

In my favorites there are ones I'd think would have more favorites that don't and ones that I wonder why someone favorited them.

I'm with TexasSugar, hers are the same reason I keep my favorite cake pics.I don't consider a contest or anything like that, (unless you enter a contest ,which in that case, the cake designer name is omitted from the photo so you will vote on the cake and not the artist) somebody correct me if Im wrong.

I can tell you I never even look at who made the cakes that I favorite. I favorite a cake because i want to save it in my files as an idea .... be it the whole cake design or just a small portion of it. when my grandkids' birthdays rolls around (their dates are 10 days apart), I'll go in a save a number of cakes so I can show them to my daugther as ideas. I may or may not un-favorite them when I am done.

A "vote" as a favorite isnt' necessarily saying "oh my gosh this cake is award winning quality!" but may be just a simple "wow, I like this cake and might want to try making something like it someday."

I can tell you I never even look at who made the cakes that I favorite. I favorite a cake because i want to save it in my files as an idea .... be it the whole cake design or just a small portion of it.

A "vote" as a favorite isnt' necessarily saying "oh my gosh this cake is award winning quality!" but may be just a simple "wow, I like this cake and might want to try making something like it someday."

I agree with what indybedi said. It would be silly to try to save every single cake. That's what the galleries are for. I choose "favorites" because there is something I find interesting at that moment and I do go back and reference mine also (and delete). I don't know who most of these decorators are anyway.

I have never thought of "favorites" as a popularity contest. There are some completely jaw-dropping, amazing cakes in the galleries that I don't add because if I ever want to see them again I can do a search for them. Some are so spectacular that I'd never attempt them so I don't need to save them. I only save cakes if there is an idea there that I might attempt... colors, shapes, borders, figures...

Having said that... it does give the ego a little boost when a cake of mine is added as a favorite. It doesn't make my cakes spectacular, just nice knowing that someone wants to see it again for some reason.

Ok, it makes more sense to me now. I guess the word "favorites" is what threw me. For most people it seems to really be more along the lines of wanting to refer to it in the future than a "like" type of thing.

I am pretty new here but see "favorites" as a way to save a few ideas that I can get at easily, without searching through the entire gallery of ideas. I even wish there was a way to sub-divide my favorites for quick and easy access!!

As the photo gallery moderator, I've been watching the galleries for quite some time. The photos that make it to the front page or have a lot of favorites aren't necessarily the most well-made cakes that were loaded that day or even cakes from the most talented bakers. Since you can't see who made the cake until you click the thumbnail, I don't think "who" made the cake is as important as how the thumbnail looks.

Sometimes a cake gets favorited, not because it is great but because it looks simple enough for even us amateurs to make. I call it the "do-ability" factor. It has a great look AND it looks like something I could do myself so lots of us home bakers save it.

Another factor is the time when a photo is loaded. Many of our European members make absolutely gorgeous cakes which are often overlooked because they are uploaded when we Americans are all asleep.

To get the best cake "viewing", always click the "Galleries" tab and then click "Last Uploads". You can see all the latest uploads and never miss a great cake.